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Port of Halifax, Canada

International car shipping port in Halifax, Canada

At AutoShippers we specialise in
shipping your car, van, truck,
SUV or motorcycle, from the UK to anywhere else in the world,
including Canada. Find out more about the Port of Halifax, one
of Canada's largest ports, below.

Halifax

Halifax Harbour is located near the capital city of Nova
Scotia, Halifax. It is the second largest population centre in
Canada, after Vancouver, British Columbia, and the most populous
area on the Atlantic coast.

History

Halifax Harbour is part of the Halifax Metropolitan Area. The
Port was established in 1749 by Edward Cornwallis, First
Governor of Nova Scotia. Cornwallis was tasked by the British
Government of Great Britain to establish a port to counter the
French Fortress Louisbourg.

Indigenous Mi'kmaq Indians of the Wabanaki Confederacy and
Catholic Acadians mounted regular attacks on the settlement and
were supported by the French in their opposition to British
settlement. Cornwallis left Nova Scotia before the matter was
resolved by the British victory over France in the Seven Years
War (1763).

Halifax was named for the 2nd Earl of Halifax, George
Montagu-Dunk who was president of the Board of Trade and
Plantations.

Sambro Island Lighthouse was constructed at the harbour
entrance in 1758 to assist shipping and a Naval Yard established
in 1759. The lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse in
North America.

Halifax was an important strategic military base in both
world wars.

Facilities

The Port is run by the Halifax Port Authority, a Crown
Corporation responsible to the Canadian Government, created in
1999, following the Canada Marine Act, 1998.

Halifax Port Authority operates container terminals and
cruise terminals, as well as an autoport and seaport. It has
come to specialise in roll-on/roll-off transport logistics.

Halifax Autoport has capacity for 185,000 vehicles per year.
It covers almost 100 acres, and has 50 truck loading bays for
wheeled vehicles.

Fairview Cove, South End and Ocean Container Terminals
provide fully intermodal shipping, serviced by Canadian National
Rail. Each terminal has 6 gantry cranes, including 60 tonne
post-Panamax gantry cranes, roll-on/roll-off ramps, and handle
break bulk and heavy lift requirements. There is capacity for
over 700,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) per year.
Fairview Cove has a state of the art truck marshalling facility
and is fully secure and access-controlled.

There is a cruise terminal which services 250,000 cruise
passengers per year, generating over $50 million in local
economic impact.

Imperial oil wharves serve markets in the US and Canada by
pipeline.

Facts of Interest

• Halifax played a part in the tragedy
of the Titanic, with three ships dispatched to recover
bodies. Many unnamed victims of the disaster are buried in
the area.
• On 6th December 1917, Halifax
Harbour was the scene of the largest non-nuclear man-made
explosion, when the SS Mont-Blanc, laden with wartime
explosives collided with the SS Imo. The massive explosion
killed 2,000 people, and injured up to 9,000.